What to Do When Your Business Pivot Fails: A Guide to Course-Correcting
This spring, I shut down my agency model, let go of my team, and went back to solo work. It looked like a failure from the outside, but it was actually one of the smartest decisions I've made. In this episode, I'm sharing the real story of why my pivot didn't work - the time crunch with little kids, the lead generation reality, and the comparison trap that made me think I should be able to do what other designers were doing. If you've ever had to course-correct a business decision, this one's for you.
Before we dive into the episode, have we met?
I’m RuthAnn, the brand + Squarespace website designer behind the women-centered design business, R Artspace.
Since 2016 I’ve been working with incredible women coaches and service providers with sophisticated branding and website design and I LOVE seeing women step into their next level of business growth with a brand and website that’s set up for their expansion.
On the personal side, I’m a wife, mama to 3 littles and we live in Kansas City, Missouri. So good to meet you!
This spring, I shut down my agency model after just 4 months. I let go of my team, stopped calling myself a design agency, and went back to solo work. And I'm going to tell you why that wasn't a failure - it was one of the smartest business decisions I've made and how you can find encouragement and knowing you’re not alone if you are pivoting and realizing it wasn’t the best fit, you’re thinking about changing your business model, or just want some real talk of the behind the scenes of the messy middle - which I’m all about on this show. So let’s get into it.
Part 1: My Pivot Story
So as a backstory, and if you’re new around here, I began my R Artspace back in 2016 and honestly for me it was creativity that was my goal. I wanted to be creative and do work I loved and help people and I found that trifecta in my small business R Artspace. It was challenging at first, I bootstrapped it and made all the mistakes in the beginning, and really wanted to be at a certain level that I just wasn’t at. My design work has improved dramatically but it took time for me to really develop my design skills. I went full time in 2019 and what that meant for me was quitting my day job and working about 25-30 hours a week for myself, replacing my day job income, and being the solo designer behind R Artspace.
Fast forward 5 years, and I’m still doing all the work myself, I now have 3 kids, and I am struggling to keep up with the work. I don’t have 25-30 hours to commit to work, I barely have 10 these days honestly and it can be a struggle keeping up with everything. So last year in 2024 I was following some other designers who have been in business a good length of time too and I was also stumbling upon designers who now do education where they are promoting a way of working that was extremely successful to them, which was the agency model.
And this should have been my first clue, but I always said I would never do an agency because I love the design work too much. I love the branding, the website design, the strategy, it’s all so fun for me and I always thought that if I outsourced it I would suck the life out of my business for me. And I never thought I would want to manage a bunch of designers.
Well, I went against my better judgement, and I don’t think I want to make myself wrong for going in this direction but I think I really was feeling like “I’m in a certain place in my business, this is the next right step that designers do.” And for so many people it is a wonderful path. And just the other week I was listening to a podcast from a designer who had a $40k month and she has an agency model and it was just one of those things, like, part of me is like, I want that, that sounds great, but the other part of me is a stay at home mom, by choice, and my kids are itty bitty - especially during the time when I was labeling myself “agency”
So, in the beginning of 2025 I went for it, I was committed, I was excited, I really saw it working out. I hired 2 other designers per project, I think at the peak I had 8 projects going at one, and it was a lot.
While I was in it, I really was excited, I had the vision for growth and I was like, I’m going to figure it out, I’m going to make this work, and it’s going to be awesome.
Part 2: When Reality Hit
So things are going along, and while I’m excited about the potential for this direction, it’s starting to get hard.
I thought that I could outsource the design work and it would be fine, but the outsourcing took a lot more time than I originally thought. I was checking in on work, providing feedback, doing revisions with my designers, then doing communication with the client, going back to the designers, and it was just a lot. I recognized that it was really requiring significantly more time than I originally thought, and I honestly just didn’t have the time to put into it. I really needed to do about 20 hours minimum for getting my sea legs with an agency and the most I could squeeze in was 12 hours - dedicated hours with childcare, not including late nights or early mornings or a 15 min chunk here or there. So it was hard. The spring was also the time where my son turned 5, my daughter turned 2, I was still nursing the baby and going through all those emotions (you moms know what I’m talking about) and it was just becoming too much.
I was constantly feeling overwhelmed, not knowing how I could keep this up or manage my team, not to mention, I was truly missing doing the design concepts and designing the logos, and like, that’s my baby I wanted to do it, so I had these projects that I was excited about then I would hand them off and it was hard for me. So that was red flag no. 1 feeling like I wanted the design work myself and handing it off was not fun.
The time crunch was the 2nd red flag. Like I mentioned I just didn’t have the time to put into having a team, handing off all the work and overseeing everything, Something had to give.
Red flag number 3 was the lead generation pressure: Having clients vs. having a pipeline that supports a team. I had lots of clients but the necessary increase of inquiries and clients that I would need to continually bring it was A a lot of pressure for me, and B It was a whole other aspect of my business that I - I will admit, have not figured out quite yet. My marketing strategy is ever-evolving as I’m constantly trying to figure out what’s working for me, how I like to show up, how I can get in front of ideal clients, etc. It’s a work in progress and at this point in time in my story, the pipeline just wasn’t where it needed to be.
Red flag number 4 I was really struggling. Mentally I was exhausted, emotionally I was really feeling torn like I don’t think this is where I should be with how old the kids are right now and just my personal feelings of me being with the kids. I see other business women who do full time childcare and that’s amazing, whatever works for you is great, but for me, I WANT to be with my kids, I’m able to be with my kids and I want to choose that over my business. I truly believe in a life-first approach when it comes to work, and in this instance, it was the most life-first decision I’ve ever made. I decided pull back and let go.
And something I truly struggled with, with making this decision was the comparison trap: What looks successful from the outside vs. internal reality. Having an agency looks awesome, it seems “easy” and it really in my eyes is the trajectory to success and of course I want my business to be successful and thrive but if it’s at the cost of my wellbeing, or being there for my kids, I’ll choose family everytime.
Part 3: Making the Hard Call
So in the early summer, I decided to pull back and let my team go. This was hard but it also felt right. I honestly downsized A LOT because it felt like the right thing to do. I let go of a lot of support I had in my business and I focused on getting lean, lowering expenses so I could maximize profit even with a small amount of clients at a time, which is what I’m doing now. Right now I’m working with 2 clients and I’m booking out so I’ll be able to work with 1-2 clients at a time.
Restructuring to be a solo designer wasn’t too hard, like I mentioned in the beginning of this episode, I’ve been a solo designer for almost my entire business journey so reverting back was easy, comfortable, and again, it feels so right in this season. I still have a white-label designer who I count on for one-off projects if I need assistance, but it’s me running the ship again.
In all of this, I’m reminding myself, I’m Not "going backwards" but "right-sizing for this season" my kids will grow up soon enough and I’ll have more time for work and that’ll be great. But this season is also great. As I’m recording this I’m homeschooling my 5 year old who is in kindergarten, and my other little ones are always waddling or running around and it’s busy. It’s fun, it’s full, it’s hard, it’s all of it but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Part 4: What I Learned (Actionable Takeaways)
For listeners going through something similar:
"Working" doesn't mean it's working FOR YOU
You can have clients and revenue and still be in the wrong model
Look out for red flags, if something is feeling off, listen to that.
Success metrics that matter: sustainability, margin, life fit
Other people's business models are based on other people's lives
What you see from the outside doesn't show: their team situation, their family setup, their risk tolerance, their financial runway, their marketing strategy, their childcare situation, there’s so much we don’t see. Especially on social media everyone is showing the best parts of their lives and businesses and it’s a reminder to you - and myself - to put blinders on and don’t compare yourself.
Stop using someone else's blueprint as your measuring stick
Season-based business decisions are strategic and smart, not a mistake or failure
"Not right now" is different from "not ever" which is something my coach used to remind me of so often. It could just be not right now and you could do it later.
Your business should flex with your life, not the other way around, has always been my approach to work and it remains that way
The lead gen reality check
Growing a team requires a fundamentally different lead flow
Ask before scaling: "Do I have the pipeline AND the time to feed it?" Which is an important distinction, just because you have lots of inquiries now, are you able to continually bring in new leads at the rate you need them
Course-correcting quickly is a strength
How to recognize the signs early (struggling in multiple areas simultaneously)
The cost of pushing through vs. the cost of pivoting back - I DID consider this like, what if I just pushed through but I saw a future of no sleep, unhappy kids, and a miserable life so I decided against it.
What I'd Tell Someone Facing a "Failed" Pivot
Give yourself permission to reassess without shame
List out what IS working (for me: still serving clients, still doing design work you love, more present with my kids at home)
Reframe the narrative: This wasn't a failure, it was market research albeit expensive market research
Consider: What would the "right-sized" and “right-timed” version of this look like?
So that is my story of going back to being a solopreneur after hiring a team, it was a business pivot that didn’t work for me, but I learned so much from this experience. About team, workflows, marketing, pipeline, so many things. And just because I gave it a go and it didn’t work out doesn’t mean I won’t try again in the future. Maybe when the kids are in school I’ll try out the agency model again, we’ll have to see.
I’m sharing this with you because so many times we hear the success stories, the 5 figure months, the mountain peak moments, and in business you’ll have those for sure, but there are also hard times, times of a failed business pivot, of realizing things aren’t working, questioning if you should continue or go back, comparison and all the rest. These things aren’t bad, they’re normal and it’s ok. It’s part of growth and evolution that you have to move through to get to the other side.
So if you’re in the middle of a pivot that isn’t working, you’re not alone - and pulling back doesn’t mean giving up, I believe it’s true courage to do what is in alignment with your values and maybe go against the grain a little and do things on a smaller scale.
Thank you for being here, for listening to the end.
If you're navigating a change in your business right now - whether it's a pivot, a rebrand, or just figuring out what's next - I send out a bi-monthly newsletter where I share more stories like this, behind-the-scenes of what I'm learning, and practical advice for the messy middle.
And if you want to continue this conversation, come find me on Instagram and I'd love to hear your story. Have you ever had to course-correct a business decision? DM me, I read every single message and love hearing from you. I hope you have a beautiful rest of your week.
